Simon Findlay Crean (born 26 February 1949) an Australian politician, was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level, from November 2001 to 2 December 2003. He currently is the member for the Division of Hotham and is the son of former Whitlam Government minister Frank Crean. He is the Shadow Cabinet as Minister for Trade and Regional Development. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For Kim Beazleys father, Kim Beazley senior, see Kim Edward Beazley. ... Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961), a former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. ... Hotham is an Australian federal electoral division located in the outer south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre. ... VIC redirects here. ... ALP redirects here. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... ALP redirects here. ... 1 Note that Gough Whitlam refused to use the title Leader of the Opposition between the dismissal of his government in November 1975 and the first meeting of the new parliament in February 1976. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hotham is an Australian federal electoral division located in the outer south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Edward Gough Whitlam (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. ... Frank Crean in 1961 Frank Crean (born 28 February 1916), Australian politician, was a senior minister in the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam from 1972 to 1975, and was Deputy Prime Minister for the last six months of the governments term. ... The Present Opposition Shadow Cabinet or Opposition Front Bench is listed below. ...

Early career

Crean was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He is the son of Frank Crean, a federal Labor MP from 1951 to 1977, who was at separate times Treasurer, Trade Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister in the Gough Whitlam government, and the brother to Dr. David Crean, a former Labor member of the Parliament of Tasmania. He was educated at Middle Park Central School, Melbourne High School and Monash University. Following his graduation from Monash University with degrees in economics and law, Simon Crean worked in a number of trade unions before becoming an official with the Storeman and Packers Union, of which he became General Secretary in 1979. This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre. ... VIC redirects here. ... Frank Crean in 1961 Frank Crean (born 28 February 1916), Australian politician, was a senior minister in the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam from 1972 to 1975, and was Deputy Prime Minister for the last six months of the governments term. ... Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), is an Australian former politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ... David Crean is a former member of the Parliament of Tasmania. ... The Parliament of Tasmania consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Legislative Council and the Tasmanian House of Assembly. ... “Melbourne High School” redirects here. ... Robert Menzies Building at the Clayton Campus Monash University is a public university, with campuses located in Victoria, Malaysia and South Africa. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ...

In 1977, his father Frank Crean retired from Federal politics and made the seat of Melbourne Ports vacant. The ALP pre-selection was between Simon Crean and Clyde Holding. Holding defeated Crean in the ALP preselection for Melbourne Ports. Frank Crean in 1961 Frank Crean (born 28 February 1916), Australian politician, was a senior minister in the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam from 1972 to 1975, and was Deputy Prime Minister for the last six months of the governments term. ... Melbourne Ports is an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Clyde Holding Allan Clyde Holding (born 27 April 1931), Australian politician, was Leader of the Opposition in Victoria for ten years, and was later a federal minister. ...

In 1981 Crean became Vice-President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and in 1985 he was elected the organisation's President. In this role he played a key role in negotiating agreements on wages and other industrial issues with the Labor government of Bob Hawke. In 1990 he left the ACTU to go into politics. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the peak national body representing workers in Australia. ... Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke, AC (born 9 December 1929) was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia after previously being an Australian trade union leader. ...

At the 1990 election, Crean was elected to the seat of Hotham in the Australian House of Representatives, and immediately entered the Hawke ministry as Minister for Science. He became Minister for Primary Industries and Energy in 1991 and Minister for Employment, Education and Training in 1993. Federal elections were held in Australia on 24 March 1990. ... Hotham is an Australian federal electoral division located in the outer south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Type Lower house Speaker of the House David Hawker, Liberal since November 16, 2004 Members 150 Political groups Liberal Party (74) ALP (60) National Party (12) Country Liberal Party (1) Last elections 9 October 2004 Meeting place Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Web site House of Representatives Entrance to the House... The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry within Australian politics is currently held by The Hon Peter McGauran. ... The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations is currently the Hon Joe Hockey. ...

Party leader

Following the Labor Party's 1996 election defeat, Crean contested the deputy leadership of the party but was defeated by Gareth Evans, 42 votes to 37. He was an Opposition front-bencher until Labor's defeat at the 1998 election. He was then elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition and became shadow Treasurer in succession to Evans. In November 2001, following Labor's third consecutive election defeat, he was elected unopposed as the Leader of the Opposition following the resignation of Kim Beazley. Gareth Evans may refer to: Gareth Evans, a philosopher and linguist. ... For Kim Beazleys father, Kim Beazley senior, see Kim Edward Beazley. ...

On February 4, 2003, Crean led the Labor Party in condemning Prime Minister John Howard's decision to commit Australian troops to the Iraq War. is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian politician and the 25th Prime Minister of Australia. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ...

Through most of 2003, consistently poor polling led to constant speculation of a leadership challenge by Beazley, though a reasonably successful Budget reply speech and the controversy over Peter Hollingworth gave Crean a small boost in popularity. Nevertheless, to end the constant rumblings over a challenge, Crean called for a leadership spill. Polls continued to suggest that the public much preferred Beazley to Crean; nevertheless, when the vote was taken on 16 June 2003, Crean won by 58 votes to 34. The Rt Revd Dr Peter Hollingworth AC OBE The Right Reverend Dr Peter Hollingworth AC OBE (born April 10, 1935), Australian bishop and 23rd Governor-General of Australia, became the first Governor-General to resign his office as a result of criticism of his conduct, when on 28 May... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

By November, however, polls continued to show Crean losing more ground to Howard as preferred Prime Minister. On 27 November 2003 a group of his senior colleagues told Crean that he had lost the party's support and should resign. Crean said he would "sleep on it". On 28 November, Crean announced that he would stand down, becoming the first federal Labor leader to be replaced without having contested an election, joining Liberal Alexander Downer who was leader of his party for several months in 1995. is the 331st day of the year (332nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the modern Australian political party. ... Alexander John Gosse Downer, MP (born 9 September 1951), Australian politician, became Foreign Minister of Australia in March 1996 This makes him the longest serving Foreign Minister in Australian history. ...

Post leadership career

After Crean's resignation, Beazley and the Labor Party's Treasury spokesperson, Mark Latham, announced that they would contest the Labor leadership. At the meeting of Labor MPs on 2 December, Latham defeated Beazley by 47 votes to 45. Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961), a former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Latham then appointed Crean as the Opposition's shadow Treasurer, which gave him a continued prominent role in Australian politics. However, in the aftermath of Labor's defeat in the 2004 election, many in the Labor Party felt that Crean's performance in the campaign was poor and he was partly responsible for Labor's defeat: as a result, Crean resigned from his Shadow Treasurer position. At Latham's insistence he was re-elected to the Opposition front bench and became Shadow Minister for Trade. Federal elections were held in Australia on 9 October 2004. ...

Crean retained this position when Beazley returned to the leadership in January 2005. In the June 2005 reshuffle, however, Crean was demoted to Shadow Minister for Regional Development. He faced a preselection challenge for his seat from Martin Pakula, a member of his former union, a move which he blamed on Kim Beazley, Hong Lim, and the Labor Right. Beazley refused to publicly support either candidate, but several front-benchers including Julia Gillard supported Crean. Crean won preselection after an unexpectedly strong win, recording around 70% of the votes in the first stage of voting (a vote which involves local ALP members in that area who have voting rights) led to his opponent's withdrawal. Since his victory Crean has singled out Senator Stephen Conroy for his part in the preselection challenge describing his front-bench colleague as "venal" and "one of the most disloyal people I've ever worked with in my life".^[1] Hong Lim (born 11 November 1950), Australian politician, has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the seat of Clayton for the Australian Labor Party. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Stephen Michael Conroy (born 18 January 1963), has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since September 1997, representing the state of Victoria. ...

Following the defeat of Kim Beazley and election of Kevin Rudd as Federal Labor leader in December 2006, Crean was reappointed as Shadow Trade Minister and also retained responsibility for regional development. In 2007 after Labor's election victory, Crean was appointed trade minister in Kevin Rudd's ministry. Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957), is the leader of the federal Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament. ...

References

For other uses, see ABC Radio (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Australian Trade Union Archives biographical entry
• Crean falls on his sword
• Crean resigns as shadow Treasurer
• Mark Latham steps in to save Crean
• Simon Crean's Personal Website
• McMullin, Ross, The Light on the Hill The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991